Have I Met You?
by PenForYourThoughts
Summary: Balthazar gets up the courage to talk to Pedro while buying guitar strings. (AU)


There he is - the hottest guy I've ever seen. Even in his orange uniform polo and khaki pants, he looks incredible. Today's the day I'm going to talk to him. Not tomorrow. Today. Maybe. No maybes. Now go.

The small music store is pretty empty for a Saturday afternoon, but I guess that mean I'll have more of his attention. I need new guitar strings; I'll probably end up buying whatever else he tells me to. Money doesn't really matter if I get to talk to him longer. We're just going to ignore how sad that is.

Damn, he just saw me. And he's smiling. I was hoping for a few more seconds to prepare myself. Well, here goes nothing.

"Hi. Could you help me find guitar strings?" I know where the strings are; after all, I come in here every week. I usually do a good job of hanging around where he won't see me, though.

"Yeah, sure, they're right over here." I follow him to the back of the store. "Have I seen you in here before?"

He remembers me! He's noticed me! "Yeah, I've been in here a couple times." A hundred million times, just to see you.

"Here they are. Take your pick." He looks at me expectantly. "You know, like a pick. A guitar pick." Silence. "You know, take your pick."

Holy crap, he's a dork. A huge dork. An amazingly hot dork with amazing hair and terrible jokes. Be still my beating heart. "Ha, yeah, that's, that's really good." I'm still trying to get past the part where he's a real person with bad puns. "Picks. Cause guitars. Yeah…" Brain is out of commission. Where's my back-up brain when I need it?

"So, um, that was a bit of a miss, huh? I'll have to remember that." He runs his hand through his hair, the perfect, _perfect_ hair. "I'm Pedro, by the way." Pedro. _Pedro._ PEDRO. His name echoes in my head.

I take his hand, which feels pretty damn perfect. "Balthazar. Nice to meet you. And the joke wasn't bad, I just…" I trail off, cause how do I explain, _I was too busy realizing how dorky you are and how much more perfect that makes you_?

"I'm gonna let you get your strings. Just let me know if you need anything else." Pedro (still can't get over knowing his name) smiles again, and I realize we haven't stopped shaking hands. Well, we've stopped shaking, so we're just holding. Holding hands. Is this day even happening?

I decide to test the waters - he knows I know we're still holding hands, so if I don't let go, what will he think? I keep my hand in his and look at him. I'm feeling oddly brave. Pedro looks at our hands, then up at me.

"Why don't I ring up those strings for you? I get off in five, so why don't I take you to get some coffee?" He squeezes my hand, and I forget to breathe for a second (or five). He's awfully forward - I like it.

I'll never get over Balthazar's shy smile. When he came in today, he was carrying himself with a bit more height. He was confident - always a good sign. But his smile was shy. It's always shy.

Balthy's been coming to the music store I work at for three years. He only remembers two of them. The first time he talked to me, he asked to see the guitar strings. I had seen him in the store before (okay, maybe I thought he was really cute and watched him shop), but he had never talked to me. I showed him to the guitar section. When I turned to leave him to peruse, he reached out and grabbed my arm. So unlike Balth. He needed my help picking strings out. Three hours later, we were still talking in the guitar section.

I didn't see Balth for a few weeks, which was odd. When he came in again, he had some bruises and cuts on his arms and face, but he looked happy. I smiled and waved, but he just smiled shyly back, a touch of confusion in his eyes. After a few seconds of standing in the doorway, he asked me to show him the guitar strings. I thought he was messing with me.

Ursula, Balthy's best friend, came in with him one day (he had taken to coming in every day and asking about guitar strings). While he was in the guitar section, Ursula took me aside and explained everything - Balth had been in an accident on his bike right after we had met. While he was physically healed, he had lost his memory of that day. He apparently thought every day was Saturday and that his guitar still needed new strings. I was vaguely reminded of that American movie "50 First Dates". I guess that makes me Adam Sandler.

I also learned that Balth thought I was "super hot," so that explained why he kept flirting with me when we talked. Ursula thought I might be able to help her friend - she gave me her blessing to take Balthazar out on a date. "Just don't hurt him, or I'll hang you with your damn guitar strings."

Now, almost a year later, I've taken Balthy out every day. I got my boss to agree to giving me shifts every day (she's a total sucker for romance), and I know his coffee order by heart. We usually go to a movie after, then dinner. For the first couple of months, my friends were worried I was investing too much time in a guy who never remembers me, but they eventually got that he's the love of my life. We connect on a level I've never had with anyone. I honestly don't mind if I have to rebuild our relationship everyday. At least we have a relationship.

Also, note to self, the new pick joke works surprisingly well.


End file.
